The Minister of the Environment, Adrián Peña, said last week that he had finished his university degree in 2022, and apologized for having signed documents as a graduate since 2015, although he was not at that time.
However, the race has not yet been fully completed, according to statements by the weekly Search, which published this weekend that the leader of the Ciudadanos sector, of the Colorado Party, lacks a short course. This is clear from inquiries that the outlet claims to have made at the Catholic University of Uruguay (UCU) and political circles.
In last week’s edition, the aforementioned newspaper published that Peña had said at least since 2015 -with official documents involved- that he had a degree, without really having the title at that time. Transcending this, he affirmed that he obtained it in 2022, but in the end, it would not be the case either due to the lack of that course: the race began 21 years earlier, in 2001.
Luis Lacalle Pou gave him a boost and let him continue in his position, according to Peña himself. “The important thing for him (the president) is that, indeed, I completed my degree as I have just demonstrated. There is schooling, I passed all the subjects, I passed them all, then, some time later, I submitted my thesis, defended it and saved it. He told me that this was important,” Peña said as he left a meeting with the president.
The partitioned PC
This has generated cracks in the Colorado Party itself, because the former Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carolina Ache, criticized the controversy and tweeted that they were “hard with those below” and “warm with those above”, in addition to the fact that “they raised the ethical rod, which passes below ”. The mayor Nicolas Barreto, a member of the National Executive Committee of the Colorado Party, spoke rather in favor of Peña being sanctioned.
For his part, the former president of Colorado, Julio María Sanguinetti, defended the minister and said he was satisfied with only his explanations.
